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Sesquicentennial Prime Ministers Book Club - John Diefenbaker

Dr. Michael Stevenson will be helping us better understand the life and times of John Diefenbaker, the Progressive Conservative leader who won three federal elections, including the 1958 landslide. During his six years as prime minister, Diefenbaker appointed the first female cabinet minister in Canadian history, and his government obtained passage of the Canadian Bill of Rights. Diefenbaker also presided over the cancellation of the Avro Arrow, and he ultimately failed to adopt a consistent defence policy, particularly in the matter of acquiring nuclear weapons for Canadian forces.

Dr. Stevenson is an associate professor of history at Lakehead University specializing in Canadian diplomatic and military history. His publications include Canada’s Greatest Wartime Muddle: National Selective Service and the Mobilization of Human Resources during World War II (2001), and he has edited three volumes in the Documents on Canadian External Relations series focusing on the John Diefenbaker government. He is currently writing (with Eric Bergbusch) a biography of Howard Green, Canada’s Secretary of State for External Affairs from 1959 to 1963.